Selling

I have a grouse with an idea that has had legs in contemporary India. It started with the movies I think. Selling is seen by many as a low immoral act. The sales person is supposed to make a monkey of the buyer. This idea is wrong and philosophically dangerous. 

I postulate that everything is sales. Human interaction, social dynamics , identity creation and obviously persuasion all of it fits philosophically in the lens of sales. Let me explain why. 

At its core sales is essentially an exchange of values. These values could be material, emotional or intellectual. Every conversation, relationship and decision is built on some form of implicit or explicit negotiation; this negotiation is shaped by the stories we tell. A friend “sells” their version of events in an argument. A partner “sells” compatibility or a future vision. The examples are there to see in every human transaction.  If a story, an idea or a concept works, it becomes true within that context. I.e the sale is successful. 

We all love narration and stories. We use stories to make sense of the world and our place in it. The art of shaping or aligning stories is essentially a sale. Mutual respect or trust must be “sold” repeatedly through action and language. If these stories don’t align  it causes tension e.g if a person sees a relationship as transactional and the other person sees it as emotional.  In hierarchical structures like the workplace, this idea becomes even more pronounced. The boss sells a vision of purpose, authority, and organizational values. The subordinate sells competence, reliability, and potential. Both are navigating an exchange of belief and value.

Everybody constructs and identity; essentially an ever evolving story that is being sold to the world and importantly to oneself. We pitch everything, our character, our morality, our capabilities.  Social media is essentially the ultimate sales platform for the self. An interview is a formalised self sale. Acts of vulnerability are essentially pitches for empathy and or connection. 

Sales is not manipulation but rather the fluid movement of meaning and value between people. No one escapes this process. We are all buyers and sellers of meaning, every day.

C